Rage Against the Machine: Part Six

This is the sixth installment of a series that recounts my experiences as a maverick manager working within the constraints of corporate America. As a fleet manager, making safety an issue led to a firestorm of epic proportions.

By Randy Keho
Maverick Manager
Making offers that can't be refused has been a hallmark of organized crime. 
It's a nasty way to conduct business, but it works. I'm not condoning it, but I found it to be a concept worthy of review.
Stripped down, it's really nothing more than a form of leverage, which can be used to achieve an objective.
My objective, as a newly minted fleet manager, was to not only keep a rag-tag fleet of aging trucks on the road, but to guarantee the safety of their drivers.
So, I came up with a variation of the dastardly theme.
I decided to challenge, what I believed to be, corporate's lip-service regarding safety.

Corporate prided itself on its high-profile safety campaigns, aimed at preventing injuries through videos, posters, and monthly handouts. However, in my view, they were self-serving, aimed at reducing the number workman's compensation claims. 
When it came down to addressing ongoing safety issues, such as truck service, repair, and replacement, it became a sensitive budget issue. 
The safety of our 40 drivers, including yours truly, was reduced to a matter of cost and an unwillingness to change.That was my ace in the hole.
How could they fail to address pressing safety issues while emphasizing the importance of safety?
It wouldn't look good, would it?
I thought it was an offer they couldn't refuse
Shortly after I assumed the position, I discovered that fleet maintenance had been virtually ignored.
When something broke, you fixed it. No big deal.
As long as a truck and its driver returned safely, there was no cause for alarm.
Basically, that's what led to this crusade.
What I intended to press upon corporate, in addition to the safety concerns, was the fact that routine maintenance is less costly than major repairs and that it establishes and maintains fleet reliability.
I never imagined the amount of time, effort and determination it would require to accomplish my objective. 
The ensuing battle featured a heated exchange between my regional fleet manager and our contracted service-and-repair center's national representative. Looking back, it was, perhaps, the most exciting day of my career..
More on that later.

I also never imagined that a business so dependent upon its fleet, wouldn't officially recognize the position of fleet manager.Technically, neither the title nor position existed below the corporate level.
Corporate fleet mangers, of which there were only a handful, were geographically located. Each was responsible for a specific region of the country.
Some facilities, such as mine, farmed out its service-and-repair to a nationally known truck service. Others kept theirs in-house, which required an on-site garage, manager and mechanic, or two.
There was no consistency.
No experience necessary
The company operated dozens of facilities and thousands of trucks across the country. Nonetheless, fleet duties were assigned by each general manager to some poor schmuck on his management team, which was an offer he couldn't refuse.
That, in itself, pretty much describes how corporate America conducts business. 
Management structures and job descriptions are mere guidelines.
They're created, adjusted, and deleted on an annual basis.
Bottom-line costs, rather than logistics or efficiencies, drive most decisions, which isn't always bad.
However, if the established program impedes the satisfactory performance of the job, the program needs to be reviewed and, if necessary, altered.
In this case, it was nearly turned inside out.

In the next installment, I'll describe not only how dysfunctional the truck-maintenance program had become, but how, due to sheer ignorance, the entire fleet could have grounded.